Why events can be your #1 revenue driver w/ Scott Ingram | EventShark Podcast #16

With AI making everything less human, one marketing channel is becoming MORE powerful than ever: in-person events. 

But most companies are doing them completely wrong. What if the secret wasn't flashy booths or expensive swag, but building genuine community that turns attendees into loyal advocates?

We're joined by Scott Ingram (founder of Sales Success Media, host of the Sales Success Stories podcast, and author of the book "Making Rain with Events") who breaks down:

- Why events are more crucial now than ever before
- How to capture testimonials, speaker content & street interviews
- Creative event activations that actually drive ROI
- Building community and culture through events
- Pre-event, during-event & post-event content strategies
- How to avoid the dreaded "pitch slap" at trade shows
- Guerrilla marketing tactics for events on any budget

Scott has hosted almost 200 episodes interviewing top 1% B2B sellers and runs the Sales Success Summit in Austin. His insights on turning events into revenue engines while building authentic community are game-changing for any B2B marketer or salesperson looking to stand out in 2025.

Timecodes:
0:00 Intro
2:28 Why events should be your most important B2B revenue driver
3:18 Third-party testimonials and customer superpowers at events
4:00 EventShark's approach to capturing testimonials vs website videos
5:07 Different types of events - conferences, road shows, customer events
5:47 B2B event budget statistics
6:05 Post-pandemic event recovery and current opportunities
8:13 ROI differences between event types
9:00 Scott's new "pitch party" sponsorship model
11:30 Creative event activations and experiences over traditional booths
13:37 The "pitch slap" problem and focusing on qualification first
15:15 Pre-event, during-event, and post-event content strategy
16:22 Top event content formats
17:22 Speaker content strategy and maximizing speaker value
20:06 Using content creation as prospect engagement tool
21:25 Creative booth experiences
22:47 During-event content challenges and FOMO opportunities
24:05 Guerrilla marketing tactics without booths or sponsorships
28:00 Building community culture through events
29:21 Managing cliquey dynamics and welcoming new attendees
34:09 The superpower theme - finding what makes you unique in sales
40:00 AI's impact on events 
42:24 Personal branding and reputation in the AI era
43:12 The importance of taste vs execution ability
44:29 Trust over likability in business relationships
45:31 Outro

#b2bmarketing #marketing #podcast